Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

There are too many stories, Senator Seselja, you are correct. There are too many stories about the National Party and their infighting. What happened last week? There was a spill, an attempt to remove Mr McCormack by Mr Joyce. By all accounts, the margin of that dispute was very, very close. After that there had to be a reshuffle, didn't there, and a lot of people missed out—Senator Canavan missed out, Senator McKenzie missed out. Mr McCormack said that these portfolios represent experience. Apparently not everyone agrees, because Mr Joyce then engaged in some kind of text exchange, making threats, it seems, to Mr Morrison about what was going to happen in this new, precarious arrangement, the precarious leadership arrangement established by the National Party and their leadership.

How can Australians have any confidence whatsoever that this rabble is able to govern? From resignations to leadership spills, the National Party has started the year doing what they do best: undermining one another instead of representing the regional communities that they claim to care about so much. Is it any wonder that Australians are losing trust in their government when every time they turn on the news they find the people they've elected to represent them fighting amongst themselves.